


Steven Universe Farther Into The Future Episode 26: Gemdemic

by LMasterm1nd



Series: Steven Universe Farther into the Future [29]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Aliens, Crystal Gems, F/F, F/M, Horror, Pandemics, Quarantine, Story Arc, Survival Horror, Virus, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:01:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27872698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LMasterm1nd/pseuds/LMasterm1nd
Summary: Part 2 of the Series Finale ArcA strange viral outbreak has made an impact on Homeworld, causing gems turn a sickly orange colour and attack other gems and spreading the virus.The Diamonds, making an effort to stop the spread have enacted emergency measures to stop it from spreading, and call in Steven to see if he can do anything about it.
Relationships: Amethyst & Garnet & Pearl & Steven Universe, Blue Diamond & Spinel & White Diamond & Yellow Diamond (Steven Universe), Blue Diamond & Steven Universe, Blue Diamond/Pink Diamond/White Diamond/Yellow Diamond (Steven Universe), Connie Maheswaran & Steven Universe, Crystal Gems & Connie Maheswaran, Mystery Girl/Pearl (Steven Universe), Spinel & Steven Universe, Steven Universe & White Diamond, Steven Universe & Yellow Diamond
Series: Steven Universe Farther into the Future [29]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1607287
Kudos: 8





	1. The Amber Virus

Don Ruby sat in her office, relaxing, enjoying a nice cigar. "Hey boss, if Yellow Diamond had access to your personal logs from your prison cell, don't you think Blue Diamond would find them too?" asked on of her Topaz attendants "aren't you worried she'll find out what you wrote about her?" "Ay, relax, Yellow Diamond promised she wouldn't show it, I gave her what she wanted, I ain't worried about nothin'" Don Ruby responded. Suddenly there was a knocking on the door. "Come in" said Don Ruby. In came Blue Diamond's Pearl, giving a curtsy bow. "Hey, Blue Diamond's old Pearl, to what do I owe da pleasure?" asked Don Ruby. "Blue Diamond would like to speak to you regarding certain passages from your prisoner's logs" said Blue Pearl, getting right to the point. Don Ruby was stunned for a moment, her cigar drooping down, falling out of her lips and onto the cushion she was sitting on, setting it ablaze, of course this did not bother her, as she was a gem, and a fire oriented one at that, the flames didn't even phase her. 

"She's right outside, waiting for you" Blue Pearl continued. "HAHAHAHAHA! Oh, that's funny, that's really funny, Ha haha...wh-what?" Don Ruby stammered. "Come now, let's not keep her waiting" said Blue Pearl, beckoning her over. "Whatever happens, we'll be right behind you" said one of the Topazes. Don Ruby, reluctantly followed Blue Diamond's former pearl outside and there she saw Blue Diamond, looking rather serious. "Don Ruby, I'd like to discuss a few things you've written about me on your logs" She announced. Both Don Ruby's Topaz goons, were ready to protect their boss not matter what. "I've been called beautiful many times, but never in such detail" Blue Diamond continued "I want to hear more!" For a moment, silence, everyone who was nearby was stunned, unable to comprehend what Blue Diamond had just said. "Uh...Come again?" Don Ruby requested. "Nobody has ever talked about me in such a manner, it's awakening strange and wonderful feelings within me that I didn't even know I had, please, you must come with me to Homeworld, I want to hear more" Blue Diamond pleaded. "I must say, Blue Diamond, I was not expecting this sort of reaction, call me crazy, but, I suppose I shall grant your request" said Don Ruby regaining her composure.

* * *

Back on Homeworld, Yellow Diamond was examining a containment cube full of sickly orange gems, trying to rush against the panel of the cube, but the electrical makeup of them was pushing these gems back. "Excuse me, Yellow Diamond" said a Citrine. "My stars, more cases!?" Yellow Diamond exclaimed. "I'm afraid so, Yellow Diamond, they've been popping up a lot lately" The Citrine said, pulling in a bunch of orange gems in a hovering slate, they all had yellowish restraint rings around them. "Just put them in the cage with the others" said Yellow in a lamenting tone. The Citrine got back up on the hovering slab, pressed a few buttons on it as it hovered up above where all the other orange gems were being contained, Citrine summoned her weapon, a spear, got behind the four orange gems and pushed them all with the spear into the containment unite.

The orange gems all lurched and squirmed. "Yellow Diamond, shouldn't we tell the other diamonds about this?" asked the Citrine. "You're right, as soon as Blue gets back from her, excursion to Earth, I will gather, her, Spinel, the elected Homeworld representative and White and show them...whatever this is, we need to take care of this and quickly" said Yellow Diamond.

Yellow Diamond had contacted Zircon, who actually had witnessed a few cases of this strange new condition effecting gems, so she was already aware of the situation. Yellow then contacted White Diamond and Spinel and Blue Diamond who was currently en route to Homeworld. At first, Yellow was bewildered by the fact Don Ruby was with Blue, but she shrugged it off, as there were more pressing matters. As soon as they all were gathered in the Palace, Yellow led them to the entrance of her room. "Now, Zircon here is already aware of the situation, but I must warn you, you are not going to like what you see" said Yellow. Yellow opened the door, and there it was, the huge containment sphere containing strange orange gems. White, Spinel, Don Ruby and Blue Diamond all gasped.

"Y-yellow, what's gotten into you? Why are you keeping these gems prisoner?!" asked White. "White, wait, look" said Blue, pointing at the gems. Upon closer inspection, White then noticed the pupiless eyes on these gems, the way they were lurching trying to get out of the box. "What the heck is this!?" Spinel exclaimed. "To be honest, I'm not sure, but this...condition, it's been spreading like wildfire throughout various areas of Homeworld" said Yellow. "Haven't you tried using your powers on them?" asked Blue. "That's the first thing I tried, there's nothing wrong with their physical form except for the eyes and their colouration" said Yellow "I don't think this is anything like corruption, it's, something else."

"Perhaps let me try, I shall let them speak through me" said White. "I'd advise against that" said Citrine "I've been collecting the infected on Yellow Diamond's behalf, this condition is contagious, White Diamond, the infected seek out the uninfected to bite them and spread the infection, and it doesn't even need to bite other gems for it to spread, even a touch will be enough, so we don't know what will happen if you use your powers." "Then what should we do?" asked Blue.

Zircon then cleared her throat "As the elected representative to you on behalf of all the gems on Homeworld, might I make a suggestion?" she requested. "Go on" said White. "Well, before coming here, I spoke to the elected representatives of all gem occupied planets, and there have been no recorded cases on any other planet besides Homeworld as of yet, meaning this condition or virus if you will, is currently on Homeworld only, so until we can have a better understanding of this condition, we must impose a lockdown of Homeworld, nobody is to leave or come to Homeworld with only very few exceptions, we must declare an emergency situation" Zircon explained. 

"Now, hold on there, bucko, now this is all new to me, but I get what you're sayin', but when you say very few exceptions, what do ya mean, exactly?" asked Don Ruby. "Well, we could call in Steven Universe and see if he can use his healing powers" said Zircon. "Yes, we could!...but that would involve him touching them...wouldn't he get infected?" Blue asked. "Not necessarily, as half a creature of Earth, there is the possibility of him being immune" said White "...but then again, he wasn't exactly completely immune to corruption..." "Still, it's the best plan we got, I'll try and see if he's available..." said Yellow "until then, Zircon, make the order, impose emergency procedures." "Right away Yellow Diamond" said Zircon


	2. Rose's Graduation

Today was the day of Rose's graduation, of course her father, mother and her brother were there for it, and Garnet couldn't help but tag along. "Connie, do you have any tissue on you?" asked Steven. "Sure, I think I got one in my purse...hold on..." Connie answered, rummaging through her purse, taking out a tissue and giving it to Steven. Steven accepted the tissue and wiped his eyes with it. "I know Steven, I'm proud of her too" said Connie, giving him a consulting pat on the shoulder. "Oh, look, here she comes!" said Garnet excitedly 

There was Rose in full graduation robe and hat, accepting her diploma from her principal. Rose's girlfriend was named class valedictorian. Backstage, after the ceremony Rose gave her girlfriend a hug. "Wow, Selena, you didn't tell me you were class valedictorian!" Rose commented. "I wanted it to be a surprise, neat huh?" Selena answered. "Hey, since I'm dating the smartest person in our class, I guess that makes me the second smartest" Rose suggested. "I don't think that's how it works, babe" said Selena. 

"Roooose!" cheered Garnet as she came running in, giving Rose a surprise hug. "Auntie Garnet! You came too!?" asked Rose. "Of course, I couldn't miss my Rosie's special day" said Garnet. "Where's Aunt Amethyst?" asked Rose. "Oh, you know how she is, she said, and I quote: as much as I'd love to support Rose, I cannot stand just sitting there listening to some old person go on and on" Garnet explained. "Yep, that sure sounds like her" Rose agreed. 

"Well, next stop: Empire City, community college for me, medical school for my girlfriend" Rose concluded. "I know you two will do just fine" Garnet predicted "and I'm not just speaking academically." As Rose, Selena and Garnet left backstage, Rose united with her parents. "Look at you, my high school graduate" Connie congratulated. "I can't believe I finally got to go to a high school graduation, it was everything I hoped it be" Steven commented. "Wait, Mr. Universe, did you not go to high school?" asked Selena. "Nope, I was homeschooled by Pearl" Steven answered. "Trust me Steven, you weren't missing out on much" Connie assured him. "I dunno, getting the chance to be around people my age when I was growing up would have been a useful experience" said Steven. "You got to go to my school prom with me, that was pretty fun" Connie reminded him. "Sure, but personally, I preferred what we did after the prom" Steven commented. "Okay, I'm instantly repressing that" Piers said, covering his ears. "Hear hear, lil bro" Rose agreed. 

Rose saw off Selena as she went to meet with her own mother. Rose got into the car with her family as they drove home. "Sooo...since today was Rose's graduation, I thought I'd whip up my little girl's favourite" Steven suggested. "The chicken casserole with the little potato chips sprinkled on top!?" Rose guessed. "Yep, that's the one" Steven confirmed. Rose squeed with delight, to which Steven gave a throaty chuckle. "Well, now that Rose's graduation is over, summer can officially begin" Connie announced "This summer I was hoping we could spend more time together as a family before Rose goes off with Selena for college." "That doesn't sound like a bad idea, Connie, I was actually thinking the same thing myself" said Steven. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but, so was I, I mean, Rose does get on my nerves a lot, but, I've known her for literally my entire life, and the thought of her leaving gives me a lot of mixed feelings" said Piers. "I'm gonna miss you too, lil bro, besides, we still had as much fun together as a brother and sister could, right?" Rose answered. "You know what, you're actually right about something for once" Piers joked.

Garnet was very happy witnessing this wholesome family moment. The car was silent the rest of the way home, the family didn't know what else to say, everyone was still having bittersweet thoughts about Rose leaving for college at the end of summer. As much as they were going to miss her, they knew it was important for Rose to go out into the world and spread her wings. Steven and Connie, as her parents, were naturally worried about her, but they both understood that they could trust her, that they needed to trust her, to make it on her own, and since she was going to be with her girlfriend, they knew they could worry a little less. 

The car pulled up in front of the house, the family exited and came back home and were greeted by Amethyst. "Uh, Steven, there's a visitor from Homeworld for you" said Amethyst. The family peered into the living room and saw a gem who appeared to be wearing a hazmat suit. "Hello Steven, there's an emergency on Homeworld that I must request you come with me for" said a Zircon's voice from underneath the hazmat suit. 

* * *

Meanwhile on Starship Blackthorn, situated just outside of little Homeworld, Bloodrose Steven's private comm channel opened up, revealing Llesh, the Gembuster Second in command on the other end of the line. "Llesh, what's going on?" Bloodrose Steven asked. "There's an emergency...The Gem Homeworld has been found!" Llesh answered. Bloodrose Steven froze, he remembered when he was younger, The Prospector, leader of the Gembusters, used to grill him about Homeworld's location...but he was too scared to answer, he couldn't even remember. "I know you have bad memories of that planet, but I'm beginning to wonder, all the intel we've gained from Earth, and what I've heard about the current situation of the Gem Empire, I've lost faith in cause of the Gembusters, and I think you should go there..." said Llesh "I may have delayed a direct attack, by suggesting we send the Amber Virus there..." 

"The Amber Virus!? GKG 002!? Are you mad, sending bioweapon to the place where there are more gems than anywhere else!?" Bloodrose Steven exclaimed. "So, you'll aid the innocents there?" Llesh asked. "You are right about me having bad memories of this planet, but that was in my timeline, when I first came here, I thought I had gone back to before me and my old friends were betrayed...but I soon learned I stumbled into an alternate timeline where that betrayal never happened and everything turned out for the better...I'm going to tell my counterpart from this timeline about this, I think it's about time I redeemed myself to both my counterpart and...his Connie" said Bloodrose Steven, putting his helmet back on.

"Going put back that helmet back on, are we?" asked Llesh. "Yeah...If I'm going to Homeworld, that means...I'm going to have to see...her again" Bloodrose Steven said with a shudder. 

Bloodrose Steven, fully dressed for battle emerged into the common area of the ship where his crew, The Bloodrose Brigade all greeted him. "Team, we've got a mission...we have to go gather my counterpart and the Crystal Gems, we have what may be our biggest mission yet!" he announced. 


	3. The Amber Virus

"Hey, Homeworld Representative Gem Zircon, what brings you here, and what's with the hazmat suit?" asked Steven. "This outfit is for my own protection from the infected back on Homeworld" said Zircon. "Infected?" Everyone accept Garnet questioned. "Yeah, she just filled me in, there's something messed up going on at Homeworld" said Amethyst "somethings making gems turn into orange zombies." "Well, that's not exactly what I told her, but my counterpart's analogy pretty much sums up the situation" Zircon added. "Counterpart?" asked Connie.

"Yes, Amethyst is the elected representative of all gems on Earth" Zircon answered "I thought you'd have known, you do live with her after all." "Amethyst, when did this happen?" asked Steven. "Right around the time you left Beach City around 24 years ago" said Amethyst "I do have a life outside this house, you know." "We were so happy when you came back, I guess all of us forgot to tell you" said Greg. "Amethyst openly ran on a platform she didn't believe in, and that struck a chord with voters" Garnet added. "Pearl was the one who nominated me, she figured because I was made on Earth that I'd be a suitable candidate" Amethyst also added.

"Did I hear someone mention me?" said Pearl who had just arrived, holding strange wristwatch like devices. Peridot came in after her, carrying similar devices. "Thank you for the blueprints Zircon, we managed to make enough for me, Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst. "Ah good, thank you. I had given those two blueprints for protective suits like the ones I'm wearing, I had assumed that if you, Steven, agreed to come and help us with this crisis, that your friends would like to come as backup, so I made sure that enough protective gear was given to them so they won't get infected." "Why didn't you have one made for me?" asked Steven. "Well, considering your body is a construct of human flesh rather than one of light, I assumed that you might be immune" said Zircon.

Just than, the Bloodrose Brigade popped in, with their captain clad in full armour, helmet included. "Oh, hey, it's you guys, what's going on?" asked Steven. "The Gembusters have released the Amber Virus on Homeworld" Captain Bloodrose warned. "Ah, this must be this "Bloodrose Brigade" Amethyst told me about months ago" Zircon commented. Everyone looked to Amethyst. "Yeah, once a month I have to give a report to her on what major events happen involving gems on Earth, part of the job" said Amethyst.

"In any case, you identified this virus, so clearly you must know something about it, any information you have would prove invaluable" Zircon continued. "The Amber Virus is part of the GKG series of experiments, The Virus is a combination of an organic virus and a nano robotics, a microscopic cyborg if you will, it is drawn to the energy emitted by a gem's light construct body, and once it has entered a gem's body it goes right to its power source, the gem itself, travelling upstream through the light emanating from the gem, once inside the gem, if effects the gems mind and functions, thus the animalistic behaviour and orange colouring...the virus drives the gems to other uninfected gems as it quickly reproduces throughout the gems body, however lifeforms made of flesh, even if they are infused with a gem are ignored by the virus, it's attracted to only pure gems" Bloodrose Steven explained. 

"How do you know it won't effect Gem Hybrids?" asked Zircon. Bloodrose Steven was of course wearing his helmet, so Zircon had no idea of knowing that he was Steven from another timeline. "They did numerous experiments, that's all" said Captain Bloodrose. "Well, in any case, we now know what we're up against, I don't suppose there's a cure, is there?" asked Zircon. "I'm afraid not, that may need to looking into" said Bloodrose Steven. "Well, that's sort of why I'm here, Steven, I'd like to see if you're healing powers could heal this virus?" asked Zircon. 

"Well, there's no harm in trying, alright, let's check things out" said Steven. "Hold on, I'm coming too" said Connie, grabbing her sword. "Connie, wait, it might be dangerous" Steven cautioned. "Steven, you heard what...he said, they ignore humans and organic lifeforms like you and me, right?" Connie said "besides, your wife's got plenty of good years left." "Thanks, Connie" said Steven. "Let us come too, Dad" said Piers. "Oh no, I don't think so" said Steven "I know you kids are capable of so much now, but I don't want you kids going through another dangerous situation like this."

"Come on, Dad, we can handle it, you can trust us" Rose argued. "I know I can, but today was your graduation Rose, I don't want this day to be ruined for you" said Steven "but I'll tell you what, if we need back up, we'll call you kids, alright?" "Of course, we'll be there when you need us" said Rose, giving a thumbs up.

"Alright, Garnet, Amethyst, just put these on your wrists and press this button right here" said Pearl, giving a demonstration, pressing the button on the device on her wrist. A rubbery substance enveloped her body, changing into the hazmat suit that Zircon was wearing. Garnet and Amethyst activated her devices and hazmat suits formed around them as well. As soon as the gems were ready, they headed upstairs to the warp pad. "Now when we warp to be Homeworld, do not make any sudden sounds until we are safely inside the palace, the infected are attracted by sudden loud noises" said Zircon "so be very quiet." Everyone stepped onto the warp pad, and in a flash they were gone 


	4. Homeworld Under Quarantine

The Warp Pad on Homeworld flashed, and everyone had arrived on Homeworld, however, Homeworld was not as vibrant as it usually is. This Homeworld was desolate and colourless, no sign of any gem anywhere. Zircon, made a shushing gesture, signalling everyone to be quiet. She lead the group all the way to the palace making sure nobody made a sound. She opened the door to the Palace ever so quietly, letting everyone in. That's when they saw a lot of gems inside the palace, apparently the Diamonds allowed a few nearby gems to take refuge inside the palace. 

A couple of Peridots surrounded, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Zircon and Peridot asking them various questions such as: "Are you feeling unusual in any way shape for form?" "Are their unusual orange spots emerging on your body that weren't there before or does your body have one part that's naturally orange?" They also scanned the eyes of the gems, and inspecting their bodies thoroughly. "Sorry about that, we just can't be too careful in our current situation. May we also ask Steven Universe to remove his clothing for inspection?" Asked one of the Medic Peridots "Wh-what? You're asking me to get naked? here? in front of everybody?!" asked Steven. "Well yes, we need to examine you too as you are part gem, there is the assumption that your human biology would give you an immunity, but we cannot be too careful, now if you'll please remove your clothing we can get this done." The Peridot Medic answered.

"Uh, wait, 9XJ, I believe humans prefer to enact the concept of "privacy" for situations where they undress" The second Peridot medic said. "Oh, is this true?" 9XJ Peridot asked. "Yeah, pretty much" said Steven. "Very well, if your comfort is required for your compliance, than we shall go behind this pillar and begin the inspection. Steven wanted to protest, but he didn't want to make a scene, and so, albeit reluctantly, he did what he had to do. A few minutes later, Steven came back, buttoning back up his shirt. "Another thing to add on the list of things I'm going to pretend never happened" Steven commented. 

"That bad, huh?" asked Amethyst. "Yeah, they were inspecting every inch of me..." said Steven with a shudder "there's not a surface on my body they didn't look at." "What about the time you fought that fry mascot? You took off all you're clothes to defeat it and you didn't mind being naked in public back then" Pearl reminded him. "I'm sorry, when was this?" asked a very curious Connie. "Pearrrlll!" Steven moaned in embarrassment. "In any case, we need to speak to...the...Diamonds" said Bloodrose Steven. 

"Yes, the Diamonds are in White Diamond's room with Spinel, come along" said Zircon. Everyone followed Zircon right into the back of the palace. "Diamonds, I have bought Steven and a few guests, along with some informants about the virus" said Zircon. "Steven!" The Diamonds and Spinel cheered. "Hey, uh, I've heard you've had trouble" said Steven. "Trouble's an understatement" said Yellow Diamond "we've been trying to control this situation to the best of our abilities, most gems have listened but some gems, well they didn't believe in the virus." "Hold on, what are those?" asked White, pointing at the Bloodrose Squad.

"These are the Gembusters that went rogue as reported by Earth Gem Representative" said Zircon. "Gembusters, you mean that organization that captured Yellow!?" Spinel exclaimed. "Hold on, you said they went rogue you say?" Blue added. "Yes, to simplify, think of us as the Gembuster equivalent to the Crystal Gems" said Bloodrose Steven "we are willing to share everything we know about the virus, but first, allow us to introduce ourselves..." Bloodrose hesitated for a moment, cringing slightly at the sight of Blue and White Diamond, slightly remembering their equivalents from his timeline, luckily, he was wearing his helmet, it sort of kept the thoughts at bay. "Bloodrose Brigade, roll call!" Bloodrose Steven called out to his team.

Bloodrose Steven took out a small cube device, the played an instrumental theme song of sorts. Tho'rax of the Bloodrose Brigade began flexing in various poses "The strong roots that build a mighty foundation, I...am...Tho'rax!" and then finished on one final pose and held it. Then, Robyne of the Bloodrose Brigade began dancing elegantly "the wondrous petals that allure all foes...I..am...Robyne!" finishing with an elegant pose. It was then, Plasm's turn, shifting his gelatinous form into different shapes "The leaves who keep things balanced and absorb all nutrients...I...am...Plasm!" ending in one elongated form. Junior than showed off his fire breathing power and showed off his claws "The thorns that defend from any and all attackers...I...am...Junior" he finished showing off his impressive wingspan. And then, Bloodrose Steven, striking various heroic poses "The mighty stem, which holds it altogether, Captain...Bloodrose!" He struck one final dynamic hero pose and the theme song ended.

An awkward silence filled the room. Everyone gazed at them in bewilderment, except for Yellow who appeared to be applauding. The other diamonds and Spinel looked at her awkwardly. "What?...ugh, well excuse me for appreciating good choreography" Yellow scoffed. "Thank you" said Bloodrose Steven. "In any case, you said they had information about this virus" said White, wanting to change the subject. "Oh, yes, right, the virus, allow me to explain..." said Bloodrose.

Bloodrose Steven than explained the virus to The Diamonds, how it worked, what it does to gems. "So, I'm guessing the scientists at the Gembusters didn't make a cure?" asked Yellow. Bloodrose Steven nodded. "Figures, an organization of various lifeforms descended from those who survived the planets we colonized definitely wouldn't develop a cure for a virus designed to destroy us" Yellow continued. "But, now we have Steven here, and since we know it won't effect him in the slightest, we can see if he can cure the infected that Yellow's been keeping in her room" said White. "What!?" Steven exclaimed. "It was from when the outbreak started, at first I wanted to keep it under wraps and see if I could cure them myself, but the cases started rising, that's when I told everyone" Yellow explained.

Unbeknownst to them, a gem was listening in from outside the room, a Morganite. "So, not only were we forced to be confined indoors, but Yellow Diamond knew about this and didn't tell anyone!? This used to be an efficient empire, and now thanks to Pink Diamond sinning against who she was meant to be and making this "Steven Universe" abomination, The Diamonds have become so irresponsible" she muttered "now thanks to him I have to be nice to stupid low-ranking gems who are now my "equals", well no more" The Morganite snuck her way to Yellow Diamond's room.

"First these "Gembusters" and now this, our empire has gone downhill since era 3, this empire is dying, and since it's dying anyway, who says I shouldn't speed up the process, I can't stand it, knowing the Diamonds are speaking to ugly organic lifeforms" said Morganite. The Ambers who were all in containment noticed her and were putting their hands out to the panel, recoiling from the electric shocks ammoniating from the panels. "Hey, you aren't supposed to be here" said the Citrine, guarding the containment unite. "Oh, my apologies...not!" said Morganite, throwing a small dagger right at the Citrine's gem, shattering her. Morganite went closer to the cage, with her hand hovering over the release button. "I don't care if you infect me, the glory days, my glory days, they're gone...go out and have fun" Morganite pressed the button, as the sound of the containment unit turning off could be heard.


	5. Amber Virus Outbreak at the Palace

From Blue Diamond's room came Don Ruby. "Hey, Blue, what's all the hullabaloo?" she asked. "Uh, Blue, what's she doing here?" asked White. "Oh, don't mind her, she's just my guest, I invited her over before we enforced this lockdown" said Blue. "And we made some good use of our time during the lockdown, didn't we?" said Don Ruby flirtatiously. "Oh, you, stoop" said Blue like an blushing girlfriend. Garnet who had been viewing the whole exchange, picked up that something was going on between those two, "Hypocrite" Garnet grumbled. 

"Garnet, I thought you'd be happy for her, you've always been an advocate for love" Pearl whispered. "Some wounds take longer to heal then others, Pearl" Garnet responded. Just then, outside the room, a collective scream could be heard. Steven, since he was closest to the door than everyone else ran over to the door, opened it slightly, and couldn't believe his eyes. Various orange gems with pupiless eyes were biting other gems, which then turned orange themselves and went on to bite other gems. Steven quickly slammed the door shut. Everyone was looking at Steven with a concerned look. Steven took a deep breath, there was no point dancing around the truth, he had to be honest about what he just witnessed. "We have an outbreak out there" said Steven. "You three, each grab a pillar and barricade that door" said Bloodrose Steven. "Excuse me, stranger, but who are you to give us orders?" demanded White.

"Still though, if there is an outbreak in the palace, than this room is only safe space left here" Yellow advised. "Indeed, alright, Blue, Yellow, let's do as he says" said White. White, Blue and Yellow Diamond each picked up a pillar from the ground in White's room and barricaded the door with it. "Alright, team, Be sure to guard every window and that door, if any of the diamonds get infected, it's all over" Bloodrose commanded his team. White didn't want to admit it but, she felt a little relieved knowing how seriously these visitors were taking the situation.

"Hey, is there a direct line communicator here, White?" asked Steven. "There is, but why?" White responded. "We might need back up" said Steven.

* * *

Meanwhile at the Beach House, Rose was finishing up the last slice of pizza, she won the Rock Paper Scissors match for it. "Yes, finally I won!" said Rose "you always beat me, but I finally won the match for the last slice of pizza!" "Yeah, but you always got the last slice anyway because you always do your "cute face" when you lose, and I give in to it..." Piers argued. "Well, I can't help it if I'm adorable" said Rose. "Well, look on the bright side, at least you got more slices than usual, thanks to me and my heart smart diet" said Greg. 

"Yeah, though I kind of feel guilty eating pizza in front of you while you're on a diet" Rose admitted. "Actually, this diet's not as bad as I thought it was going to be, I was worried I'd have to give up food that tasted good" said Greg assuredly. Just then there was a knock at the door, Rose was expecting it. Selena and Rose have a favourite show they liked to watch, and they always alternated each week going to each other's house to watch the newest episode and this week was Selena's turn to come over and watch. 

But there was a beeping upstairs, it sounded like the diamond direct line. Rose remembered her dad would call if they needed backup. "What's going on, Babe?" asked Selena. "We have an emergency on Homeworld and Dad needs my help" said Rose. Piers came back from his room carrying his hand crafted weapons for himself and his sister to use. They went upstairs to answer the call, unbeknownst to them, Selena wanted to come along too out of curiosity. Rose picked up the communicator and it turned into a white diamond shaped panel with Steven's face on the other end

"Dad, what's going on? Is there an emergency" asked Rose. "Yeah, there's a lot of infected gems out here and as much as I would not like you to be here, as it's too dangerous, we need all the help we can get" said Steven. "Infected? Gems are getting sick with something?" asked Rose. "Well, it's not sick as in, the flu or something like that, it's more like that show you watch with your girlfriend" said Steven. "Oh you mean the Moving Deceased?" asked Rose. "Yeah, like that, so poof every sickly orange gem you see, unless it's the type of gem that's supposed to be orange like a jasper, and be sure to bubble them just in case" Steven advised. 

"This is insane" Selena said out loud. "Selena, what are you doing here?" asked Rose. "Well, I wasn't going to watch the show without you, was I? We had an agreement on that, none of us watches a new episode The Moving Deceased by ourselves" said Selena. "Aww, Selena, you remembered, I love you so much" Rose gave her girlfriend a big hug. "Hey, can the romantic stuff, we got a planet to save" said the voice of a young man. "Cousin Joshua" said Rose and Piers 

"Gem'Ma called me, she modified her phone to send signals across galaxies, and since phone companies didn't account for 'dat, it don't cost a dime" Joshua explained "In any case, Ol' Joshua Pearl's here ta help." "I-I'm coming too" said a shy feminine childlike voice. "Ay, Margaret, what are ya doin following' me out here? it's almost yer bedtime, kid!" Joshua said. "I know I'm a kid, but you forgot, I was trained to fight, I had you in submission when we first met" said Margaret. "Well ya do bring up a good point, alright you can come, but for the record, you just got lucky, took me by surprise, that's all" said Joshua.

Everyone, nodding their heads in understanding, stepped on the warp pad. "Don't worry, Babe, if things get too hairy out there, we can fuse" Rose whispered to Selena. The warp pad flashed, sending the backup team to Homeworld.

* * *

Meanwhile back in White Diamond's room, which has pretty much become the last safe place on Homeworld, things were looking dire. Steven and Bloodrose Steven were reinforcing the barricade, by helping make sure the Ambers on the other side of the door don't push over the barricade. The Ambers were drawn by the power of the diamonds and the other uninfected gems on the other side of the door, all of which they could detect. All of them were swarming at the closed door, rushing back and forth and back and forth, like a battering ram.

Connie went to help the two Stevens keep the door shut. "Please, let us help" asked Pearl. "Us too" said White. "We can't do that, you'd be too close to the ambers, we can't risk you getting infected" Connie instructed. "Just stay back there" said Steven. "Uh, that may not be a good idea" said Plasm. "What!?" asked Everyone. "We've got company!" said Don Ruby pointing at the windows. At the windows, Ambers could be seen, climbing onto them and slamming against the glass. 

"I hope our backup arrives soon" said Junior. 


	6. Escape Tunnel

"Hey, Freakshows, close the curtains!" Don Ruby commanded. "Close the curtains? What will that do!?" asked Plasm. "Just do it, it'll be quicker to show than to tell!" Don Ruby called back. The Bloodrose Brigade members didn't know what to say, but they did as they were told and pulled on the ropes closing the curtains, now the ambers couldn't be seen, but their pounding against the glass and their moans could still be heard. Don Ruby went near the wall. "Now, the trick brick should be right around...ah ha!" She mumbled as she pushed on a brick, causing a huge entrance to appear on the wall.

"Ah, good to see the secret tunnel my gang built is still here" said Don Ruby. "A secret tunnel? Into my room? Don Ruby, why did your gang build a secret tunnel into my room!? What were you planning on doing?" asked White out of concern. "Ask questions later, hustle your bustles!" said Don Ruby impatiently. "B-but how did you build that without me noticing?" White asked. "Forget that now, White, for now, let's not question this and get into the tunnel, anywhere's safer than here" said Blue giving White a gentle push in the direction of the entrance to the tunnel. The gems, The Diamonds and all of the Bloodrose Brigade members went into the tunnel. "Hey, you three, ain't ya coming?" asked Don Ruby. "No, we'll stay in here and hold them off" said Connie "they're after gems not us!" "Yeah, it's fine, come on, just go!" Steven added. "Same goes for you four, keep all those gems safe" Bloodrose Steven said o his crew. 

The sound of glass cracking could be heard from behind the curtains, and the battering of the doors, Steven, Connie and Bloodrose Steven were holding back was making cracks in the door. "Eh, suit yourself" said Don Ruby, pressing a button causing the tunnel to close. Just than the sound of glass completely shattering filled the room. Connie, readied her sword. Bloodrose Steven readied the laser sword function on his right gauntlet. Steven summoned his shield from his gem ready to take down the infected gems.

The three of them charged towards the ambers, taking down the horde multiple gems at a time and Steven bubbled each gem that was poofed. Behind them, the pillars barricading the doors finally gave in as the horde of ambers began flooding the room, and this horde was even bigger than the one they were already fighting. "Oooooh, we're in for a looong fight" Connie commented. But amongst the moans of the ambers, battlecries could be heard coming from behind the ambers, and they sounded familiar.

* * *

Somewhere down beneath Homeworld's surface, a tunnel entrance suddenly appeared in the chasm bottom, and out of it, emerged the crystal gems, the Bloodrose Brigade minus their captain, the diamonds and Don Ruby. "Do you think Steven and others will be okay?" asked Pearl. "It's alright, Pearl, they're about to receive backup" said Garnet "it's best we worry about our own behinds for now." "The fusion's right, we ain't outta the woods yet, as the humans say" said Don Ruby "who knows if any infected are down here? we gotta keep our wits about us and watch each other's backs until we reach the Emergency Blind Spot."

"Emergency Blind Spot?" asked Yellow. "You think that blind spot you sent that Jasper to raid was our only one? Nah, me and my gang, see, we set up numerous blind spots all across the empire, and on each planet we had this one designated blind spot for emergencies only, if things ever went sour, we'd go to that blind spot and hide until the heat died down, it's too bad I got captured before I could even reach it" Don Ruby explained. Don Ruby led the everyone through the chasm, stopping once, and pushing on an oddly shaped pebble embedded into the chasm wall, opening a small compartment filled with all sorts of devices. "I might need one or two a'these" said Don Ruby, pulling out two devices that looked like high-tech machine guns "secret armouries, also for emergencies." "So...you have a secret network of tunnels, one of which leads to my room and there's an armoury nearby the entrance? Seriously, am I the only one who isn't disturbed by this!?" White complained.

"Look, I understand you're concerned, but for now, zip it! We've got bigger problems right now, save all questions until we have made it to the Emergency Blind Spot" Don Ruby told her "from here on out, I'm in charge, everyone keep your eyes on every angle." Blue Diamond couldn't help but feel a rush of excitement, seeing her new acquaintance take charge like this, and the fact that she was in charge of a criminal empire right under her nose added an element of danger to Don Ruby, which excited Blue even more. 

Everyone kept quiet and followed Don Ruby's lead. They soon arrived at an opening, lots of old Era-1 equipment was lying around, these devices were used for entertainment, but being left all alone and abandoned with little maintenance made them appear to be obsolete. "Back during the Gem War, you three had all your attention on Earth, during that time, me and my organization sort of took advantage of that and we had some wild parties, let me tell ya, nothing like those hoity toity balls Pink Diamond used to throw" Don Ruby bragged "and since we're in Era 3 and all, I got a confession to make, we kind of wanted to keep the war going on so we smuggled the crystal gems a few resources." 

Before they could say anything, they heard moaning nearby. "Drat, we're so close, too, okay look, you'll see a huge steel wall if you keep going down this way, you'll see three buttons on it, press the green one first, the black one twice and then the red one, the door will open" Don Ruby instructed. "What are you going to do?" asked Blue Diamond. "I'm gonna distract them" said Don Ruby "just keep going, you'll make it if you run, go, now!" Blue wanted to stop them, but Yellow put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head. Don Ruby ran off into the direction of the moaning. As the rest of the group ran off, Blue could hear the sound of Don Ruby's weapons going off, she could also here Don Ruby crying "Come and get me ya morons, ha ha ha!"

* * *

Back at the palace, Steven, Connie and Bloodrose could see various ambers roofing. They all decided to fight through the ambers to meet with their back up team. Steven made sure to bubble each infected gem as they poofed. Eventually they cleared the way to see their kids, Rose and Piers, along with Rose's girlfriend, Selena, Pearl's son Joshua and Joshua's adopted daughter Margaret. They too were fighting off the ambers. "Hey, kids, you guys made it, and you brought help!" Steven commented. "Save the stating the obvious later Unca' Steven, we gotta clear out dis palace" said Joshua. And so, now that Steven, Connie and his alternate self from a parallel timeline helped out their backup crew fight off the ambers and bubbled them.

"Well, it took a while, but we finally did it" said Connie. "Yeah, you kick butt mom!" said Rose. "Of course I did, your Mom's still got it" Connie bragged "I always keep in shape." "And I'm always grateful for that" Steven flirted. Everyone took a while to catch their breath, however a huge collective moan could be heard from outside. Steven went to look outside and saw a huge sea of orange gems. "Oh, crud, just fighting off as many as we did was tiring enough, I don't think we can handle this many" said Bloodrose Steven. Joshua looked outside and whistled at the sight "Yeah, that's pretty bad...but...we'll figure this out somehow, right?" 


	7. Amber Alert

Blue couldn't help but worry about Don Ruby, sacrificing herself to distract the infected gems, hoping The Don hadn't gotten infected. Never the less, she couldn't let that little ruby's sacrifice be in vain, she had to keep running just like everyone else to the Emergency Blind Spot. Like Don Ruby said, there had been a huge metal door embedded into the cliffside. Next to it was a panel with multi coloured buttons. "Does anyone else remember the code? My fingers are too big for the buttons" asked Yellow. "I got it" said Garnet running up to the panel, pressing the buttons in the exact order Don Ruby had explained. 

The huge metal door opened up, the Emergency Blind Spot was spacious, The Diamonds however, had to crawl inside but at least there was room for all three of them. As soon as the diamonds were inside everyone else was. Pearl found a lever near the door, out of curiosity she pulled it and the door slammed shut, The Emergency Blind Spot was now sealed with everyone inside. "Well, it's a bit of a squeeze for us, but at least we're safe" said White Diamond. Just then a flashing light lit up one of the tables, a holographic video began playing. Don Ruby was on the holo-screen. 

"Welcome to myself or whoever's using this place. This is the Emergency Blind Spot, if ya found this place, either the Diamonds have found out about The Homeworld Underground or some sort of similar emergency, or you could have just stumbled upon this place, in which case, get the heck outta here, don't think I don't know you're here." 

Blue couldn't help but chuckle at that last remark as that was so Don Ruby.

"If you're here for the former, than let me tell you about your new temporary digs, I can assure you, you can sit back and relax comfortably, it was designed for such purpose. There's a convenient one way window to keep watch for anybody or anything that might come around. The big steel door can only be opened by anyone who can figure out the entry code, otherwise it's completely impenetrable. And this place has been soundproofed too, nobody can hear you in here, you can party all ya want, plenty of room for it."

"Not if you're our size" Yellow grunted.

* * *

"How the heck are we going to poof all that!?" Piers asked. "I don't know, honey, but we'll have to find a way" said Connie. Steven looked at the crowd outside, luckily because nobody around here was full gem, they seemed to be ignored, but he couldn't just leave those innocent gems like this, corruption was much better than this virus all things considered. "Well, we can't take them all on, they're like, a thousand times bigger than a crowd, we'd all be overwhelmed within minutes" said Bloodrose "we'd need something huge to take them all on."

This gave Steven an idea, one he didn't like, but desperate times called for drastic measures. "Connie...there's something I have to tell you...I know a way we can get out of this, but you're gonna like it, heck, I'm not gonna like it" said Steven. "What?" asked Connie. "Do you remember that one song my old band only played live once? You see, my powers sort of acted up during that performance because I got really into it...and the rest of the band covered it up as a bunch of holograms and lasers" Steven explained. "Okay, and, what exactly is the point of this?" asked Connie. "Well, to make a long story short, I can control..."that" now" Steven admitted. "Control what, Steven?..." Connie then gasped, it was then she realized what Steven meant.

"Wait...are you saying that happened to you again? Why didn't you call me?" asked Connie. "I-I didn't want you to worry, but it's fine, I can control myself when I'm like that now, I can turn back when I'm done" said Steven. "No, Steven, absolutely not! I can't let you put yourself through that, Steven, do you have any idea how worried I was when that happened?" Connie argued. "Well, Connie, look outside, I don't think we have much choice in the matter" Steven argued back. 

"Alright, fine, but we're talking about what happened during that concert when we get home" said Connie "...I hope you know what you're doing." "So do I, Connie, so do I" Steven answered.

* * *

Pearl had taken a laptop out of her gem so that everyone could watch movies while hiding out in the Emergency Blind Spot. Everyone, except for the diamonds due to their size, took watch, looking through the one way window. It had been mostly quiet. "Alright, I see one amber, okay a couple of them" said Amethyst "Hey, since they can't see me from the outside, can I moon them?" 

"Hold on, did that Amethyst just request to orbit the infected?" asked White Diamond. "No, White Diamond, the term "mooning" refers to a human ritual where a human would expose their bare buttocks to another as a means of insulting someone" Pearl explained. "Well given how vulgar that sounded, it doesn't surprise me that it's a means of insulting someone, if someone did that to me, I'd be pretty mad" White commented. "I might not" Blue added. Everyone looked at Blue rather awkwardly. "What?" she asked.

"So...can I moon them or not?" asked Amethyst. "Everyone here would rather you didn't" said Pearl. "Screw it, I'm going to do it anyway" Amethyst answered "hey orange losers, wanna piece of this?" Amethyst placed her buttocks against the glass.

"You're the elected official representing Earth, could you please show at least an Iota of the dignity that comes with the title, please?" said Pearl. "Oh, let her have her fun, it's not like it's going to draw attention to us or anything" said Yellow. "Yeah, way to go Yellow D" Amethyst applauded. She decided to add more to her mockery of the unknowing ambers by whacking her buttocks against the one way glass. However, a sound could be heard, an unpleasant sound of glass cracking. "I think...I may have cracked the glass...with my crack" said Amethyst. "Get away from their before you're bitten!" said White. "No need to tell me twice" said Amethyst running away from the glass. "I don't understand, Don Ruby said this place was impenetrable" said White. "Maybe she was referring to the door, not the window" said Plasm. An amberized Emerald could be seen in the window, rummaging through the crack in the window trying to open it wider. "High Inquisitor?" Yellow questioned. 


	8. A Miracle Cure?

*Gembuster HQ, Somewhere in Deep Space, approx. 24 hours before the first reported case of Amber Virus on Homeworld*

Llesh sat across the table from the Prospector, who was in a very good mood. "So, we finally found it, eh? The source of all our troubles, The Gem Homeworld" Llesh said to brake the awkward silence. "Well yes, but mostly the source of my suffering" said the Prospector. "Err...right, so, I suppose we can take our attention off earth...and focus on the bigger target, right?" Llesh asked uncomfortably. "Oh, no, I'm still going to kill Earth, filthy gem sympathizers pollute its surface, but you're right, for now, I'll focus on the bigger target, once I destroy every gem on its surface, I'll scavenge the technological resources and use it to just destroy the Earth when I'm done with The Gem Homeworld" The Prospector said with a malicious grin. 

The Prospector then noticed the look of nervousness in his old friend "Is something the matter, my friend?" he asked. "Wh-what? N-no, no...it's uh..." Llesh stammered. "Because lately it seems you don't have the same enthusiasm towards our common goal as you used to" The Prospector continued "I sincerely hope you haven't decided to change your mind after all these years, I mean, suggesting I not dispose of that latest unwanted clone born from one of my pearls, only for that unwanted female clone to go rouge and join the gem sympathizers to go to earth, I'm starting to think you're going rouge. I don't want to have to kill you."

"What? Nonsense, in fact, why not take one of the gems infected with the virus our old scientists built in the lab made up years ago and send them too that Homeworld" Llesh suggested in order to save his hide "just go to the planet we used as a testing ground for the virus, take one of the infected and send them to The Gem Homeworld and in a few moments the entire planet will be infected, I mean, wouldn't you want those gems, those diamonds to suffer before we kill them all?"

The Prospector grew silent for only a moment but he smiled once more. "I guess I was worrying over nothing, you're still the old friend I knew" The Prospector praised "as much as I do love a challenge, I love the suffering of gems even more..."

* * *

*Homeworld Chasm, Present Time*

An infected Emerald had entered what was supposed to be a safe space from the infected. "This is the second time your hindquarters got us into trouble Amethyst" Pearl scolded. "Hey, do you think you can scold me until after the problem is dealt with?" said Amethyst. Junior, Robyne, and Tho'rax prepped to attack. "Wait, let me take care of this!" Plasm interrupted, slithering up towards the broken lookout window where the infected emerald appeared.

Plasm enveloped the infected gem into his gelatinous body. Inside his transparent purple body, the orange colouring was fading, right back into the original green colouring, Plasm than expelled the gem from his body. This Emerald began coughing heavily. "Wh-what? Where am I?" The Emerald spoke. "High Inquisitor, it is you!" Yellow Diamond said with a tone of relief. "Ah! My Diamond! And Blue and White Diamond as well! Did...did you cure me?" High inquisitor Emerald asked "and what are you all doing in a dingy place like this, and what's with these strange gems, and these organic lifeforms!?"

"All good questions, but now's not the time to fill you in" said White. "Plasm, what was that?" asked Tho'rax. "Well, do you remember before the captain found me, I was being used in Gembuster experiments? They used cells of my body to make this virus, so I figured if I could get that Emerald in my body, I could extract the virus from me and exterminate the cell of my body that's been tampered with" Plasm explained. "So, you're basically the origin and cure of the virus at the same time?" asked Yellow. "Pretty much, and since now we know that I can cure the virus, how about I block that hole Amethyst made in the window and use myself as a trap for the infected?" 

"Go do what you must do, weird pile of slime!" High Inquisitor Emerald cheered "and thank you for curing me." Plasm covered the window, prepping for the climbing ambers. "Heh, "weird pile of slim" would you believe me that that's not even on the top ten worst names I've ever been called?" he commented. One by one the ambers crawled through the hole in the window, unknowingly being cured by Plasm. Each cured gem looked as bewildered and as puzzled as The High Inquisitor was. Pretty soon the whole group of ambers was cured. "Okay, Pearl, I think you can open the door now, it's a bit too...cramped in here" said Garnet. "No need to tell me twice" said Pearl opening the door. "There are still ambers about on this planet though, if I went around curing all of them, it could take hours" Plasm commented. 

"Well, you can turn into anything, can't you?" asked Amethyst. "Yeah, why?" asked Plasm. "Well, why don't you just turn into a raincloud and rain on their parade?"

* * *

Meanwhile, at the top of the palace, Steven and Connie were on the roof, overlooking the swarm of ambers. "Steven, for the last time, are you sure you want to do this? I won't think any less of you if you change your mind" Connie cautioned. "No, I'm not backing out, I don't see any way out of this" said Steven, unbuttoning his shirt. "Uh, Steven, why are you taking your clothes off?" asked Connie. "I didn't bring an extra set of clothes, I don't want to ruin the only set I have" he explained. 

"Steven, just be careful, okay" said Connie, giving Steven a hug. "Don't worry, Connie, I will, especially when I have so many people to fight for" said Steven, giving his wife a kiss. Steven took a few steps forward and took a deep breath. "This is crazy' he muttered "this is crazy, this is crazy..." and as he was about to run forward, he was stopped by a strange hovering machine. It analyzed Steven for a moment and flew towards the crowd of infected gems. Afterwards a hole swarm of similar looking machines came flying above Steven, descending on the whole swarm of ambers.

The machines surrounded the crowd and generated a holographic net, capturing all of them in one fell swoop. "What the?" Steven and Connie said in unison. "I figured you might need some assistance" an elderly voice said. Behind Steven and Connie was a huge hovering sphere like structure flying right over them. "I would have helped sooner, but I had to mass produce these drones, the machines in the old factory are literally ancient, took a while for them to start up" The elderly voice from inside the hovering sphere continued. 

"Who are you?" asked Steven. "All will be explained later, for now, just go back inside" The Elderly voice answered "it's not by my doing but a cure is on the way." "Well, I guess that means I can put my clothes back on" said Steven. Connie giggled a bit, handing Steven back his clothes. 

Just then, they heard a booming in the distance, as a purple cloud approached the now contained Amber crowd and began raining on them, as the orange began to dissipate, more different colours began forming in the crowd. "I think this was the cure that big metal ball was talking about" Connie commented "I'm relieved you didn't need to transform into that thing again." "To be honest, I wasn't too keen on that Idea, myself, let's head back downstairs" said Steven


	9. The Diamonds Meet Their Maker

*Homeworld, Unspecified Time In The Past, Era Zero*

Various human like lifeforms with a pink complexion are standing in a lab, the oldest of the scientists was standing in front of a small console with a huge gem hovering above it. "Alright, it looks to be working, now let's see if it's responsive" said the oldest scientist "White Diamond, can you hear me?" A screen on the console flashed and text appeared onscreen reading: "Yes, I can hear you." "And can you see us?" asked the older scientist. The screen flashed again as text popped up on screen: "Yes, I can see you as well. Vision and auditory sensors are working at 100%." 

All the younger scientists began conversing about the first two tests, writing down the results on their holo tablets. "Alright, let us now test the knowledge" said the oldest scientists "White Diamond, do you know who I am?" The screen flashed and text appeared again: "You are Doctor Cubic Carbon, Age 37, inventor of the Gem Power Core, The Yellow and Blue Diamond, and Myself, and I am White Diamond." "Good, very good, I am glad to see your preprogrammed knowledge is retained" said Carbon "now, White Diamond, the Council of Elders have created you to be a leader, the two warring nations of the Magites and the Techions are causing damage to this planet with their war and have deemed that none of our own race is fit to rule this planet, they want to make sure you know better, that you are better and that you can make everything better."

"And is that my purpose?" the text on the screen read. "Indeed, it is" Carbon answered. More text appeared on screen "I shall not deviate from my purpose." 

*White Diamond Field Test Analysis*

White Diamond's field test was for her run an autonomous prison as an experiment. The results seemed to please the Council of Elders, but Carbon was not impressed, he seemed afraid of the results. He went into the control room where the White Diamond was station. On screen there was a text greeting on screen: "Greetings Carbon, I assume you are impressed." "What did you do to those prisoners?" Carbon asked. On screen the text read: "They were misbehaving, apparently they disagreed with how I was running things, so I corrected them." "Corrected them? That was inhumane! White, that is not what you were meant to do!" Carbon argued.

A new text appeared on screen: "The council of elders were satisfied with what I had done, and as you made me under their orders, their authority overrides yours. Surely such logic is not beyond your comprehension."

* * *

After a few minutes, The Diamonds, The Crystal gems, Bloodrose's crew and Don Ruby, who had managed to not get bitten, all returned. Plasm took all the infected gems that were poofed, by Steven and everyone else, Steven helped with the unbubbling, as Plasm cured the infected of the virus. High Inquisitor Emerald slumped in depression as she remembered what she had done to her infected Pearl on her final mission. "Yellow, this Amber Virus was the reason you abandoned one of your still developing colonies back in era 2? Why didn't you tell me?" asked White. "You...remember what you were like back in era 2, right?" Yellow pointed out. "Oh, right..." said White. "I can't believe I forgot about the High Inquisitor's report's about the colony. "So, nobody's going to talk about this thing?" asked Blue, pointing to the strange ball like object. 

"Ah, yes, I suppose I should introduce myself" said an elderly voice. "Hold on, I remember that voice..." said White. A hatch opened up in the ball like object, a stairway suddenly protruded out of it, and walking down the staircase was an elderly humanoid lifeform who appeared to be seventy five percent machine. "Who are you, why are you so familiar to me?" asked White. "Interesting, I thought truly coming to life would have deleted all your memory, but I see a fragment of what you once were still lingers" The Elderly Lifeform said.

"Wh-what memories? I don't understand!" said White. "Hold on a moment, I remember seeing creatures you in my visions, only without so many machine parts" said Yellow. "Without these machines that replaced most of my original body, I would have expired naturally" said The Elderly lifeform. "I think I can explain everything from here" said the voice of a Pearl. Pink Diamond's original Pearl came out of the machine the elderly looking lifeform came out of.

"Pink's original Pearl!? This is where you've been going, every night?" Blue exclaimed. "Yes, I'm afraid so" said Pink Pearl. "Hold on!" a Peridot Medic said. The Peridot medic scanned this Elderly lifeform. This flesh, the shape of his head perfectly alines of the strange stones we've been finding in Homeworld's Chasms." "Yellow, Blue and White Diamond...You may not remember me" The Elderly lifeform said "But, I am..." "Our creator..." said White. "WHAT!?" Everyone except for Pink Pearl, Spinel, and Piers exclaimed. "Surely you can't be serious" said Blue. "No...It's fuzzy, but...I remember, slightly, there are bits and pieces of it, but this...thing...no...Carbon...is telling the truth" said White. All gems present couldn't believe what they were hearing, an organic lifeform, created all gems. 

Little did anyone notice, but the same Morganite who unleashed all the infected gems into the palace had snuck off "Not only is there the humiliation of being saved by an organic, but to have been made by one too...my whole existence, is a lie" she said, taking out her gem weapon "I've lost all faith in rebelling era 3, there's no stopping it, I hope the others can one day pick up where I failed." she plunged her weapon, right into her gem.

Meanwhile back in the palace, Carbon explained the origin of all gems to everyone present. "Hold on, are you saying, that reason for all our existence...we're all just a bunch of sentient batteries!?" Peridot exclaimed. "A bit of a simplification, but not wrong, but you have evolved much beyond your intended purpose, for better or for worse" Carbon answered. "But why did you help us?" asked Yellow. "I had already failed my own people, when I first observed the gem busters via the many satellite drones I have in deep space...I decided to take a chance and tell a certain young man about what was to come, I have failed one civilization on this planet already, I will not fail a second time..." said Carbon. 

"Wait, Piers, is this the guy you were talking about!?" asked Steven. "Yeah, that's why I went to train with Jasper last summer" said Piers "I wanted to be ready for them." 

All of the sudden, an alarm blared. "Uh, guys, you might want to look up at the sky!" said Spinel. Everyone came outside and saw a huge armada of spaceships in the sky. These ships all bore the Gembuster logo. 

"White, what do we do?" asked Yellow. "I don't know, Steven, what do you think?" White responded. "It looks like we're in for a fight" Steven concluded

To be continued in Part 3 of the series finale arc: Homeworld Warriors 

**Author's Note:**

> The Idea of a virus that effects gems came to me before the COVID-19 Pandemic, believe it or not.


End file.
